Arba Minch University has added another Centre for Research in Livestock and Fisheries in its kitty that’s getting filled with numerous institutions focusing on problem-solving & demand-driven researches to serve the community in right earnest and results are conspicuous by their result.

The Centre duly approved by AMU Senate and Board in tandem to be situated at College of Agricultural Sciences with six satellite stations at Chencha, Sawla, Konso, South Omo, Bonke and Mirab Abaya to carry out research in livestock and fisheries to improve the scenario.

College Dean, Dr Yisehak Kechero, the owner of this ambitious venture, said, ‘‘Our objective is to introduce, generate, evaluate and adopt technologies for sustainable livestock farming to meet societal needs i.e. milk, meat, nutritional security. It will also foster livestock for people’s welfare with wise use of potential of nature to improve quality of life.

He adds that to stimulate culture of fisheries, aquatic researches, agricultural inputs will be used to breed fish species at farm ponds and research will be carried out at lakes and rivers. Artificial insemination, embryo transfer, genetic engineering, etc. will be used to revitalize dairy and meet animal farming.

On major task, he said laboratories on nutrition and nutri-genomics, micro-biology, molecular biology, parasitology and pathology, dairy and meat technologies are imperative. Initially college facilities will be used, later it will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies to achieve the breakthrough, a must to solicit fund from global institutions for greater mandate to change the Ethiopian landscape, he added.

Centre is poised to launch an ambulatory hospital to train and sensitize people about their milch animal. To make dairy and meat yield thriving, it will develop technology to balance feed need and supply; it will also analyze molecular relationship between nutrient and animal yield.

On fisheries, he said, fish breeding is action and developmental research at farm, a biological study that includes productivity, categorization, identification, breeding etc. for which medium artificial pond will be developed at Arba Minch.

On future course of action, he said, recruited staff will employ 75% of their time in research and 25% in teaching. With full-proof facilities in place, we will introduce high-yielding European dairy and meat animals either by means of artificial insemination or buy them from Addis Ababa or elsewhere and have unique research formula to move on and set the precedent in this arena.

Impact will be visible soon as our efforts and experience will conjure up amazing results. Milch animal can be selected from Gamo Gofa, Segen Area Peoples and South Omo and specialized breeds from countries like Netherlands, Germany, UK, France, India, and elsewhere to increase milk production.

Centre will start functional for large ruminants in five months and fisheries from September 2018. On budget, he said, initially, we will ask for ETB 2 Million for infrastructure and later it will go up. Headed by a director, the centre will be accountable to Research and Community Service Vice President Office.

The Centre has ample scope to establish collaboration nationally and globally in multiple areas; once infrastructure sets in centre will attract funds from VLIROUS, Wageningen University, Galilee International Management Institute - Israel and many more. Nationally, South Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), etc. will be collaborated, he summed up.